Ladies and Gentlemen, dear colleagues, Welcome in Bodrum to the NASion Hot and Dense Nuclear Matter! Welcome also to Mrs. Governor Dr. Lale AYTAMAN. We are very honored, that you, Governor of the Mugla-State, came here to greet us. We are particularly grateful to you that you offered help and assured us to do everything that we can enjoy two safe weeks in Bodrum, in this wonderful area of your country. I have chosen Bodrum as the place for our NASI because I like this historic region where many cultures meet (e. g. , Oriental and European (Greek, Roman) culture) and where you find numerous places which played a role in ancient science and in early Christianity- I mention Milet (Thales) and Ephesus (Apostle Paulus), both of which are close by. Our NASI will exhibit the most recent developments in high energy heavy ion physics. The meeting is both a school and a conference: A school, because there are very many advanced students, who frequently are themselves already top researchers, attending the lectures of distinguished scientists and leading researchers. It is also a conference because new material, new results of this exciting and wonderful field - our field - high energy heavy ion physics will be presented. It is the topic of hot and dense nuclear matter, which we are focusing on.

The principal goals of the study were to articulate the scientific rationale and objectives of the field and then to take a long-term strategic view of U.S. nuclear science in the global context for setting future directions for the field. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter provides a long-term assessment of an outlook for nuclear physics. The first phase of the report articulates the scientific rationale and objectives of the field, while the second phase provides a global context for the field and its long-term priorities and proposes a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond. In the second phase of the study, also developing a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond, the committee carefully considered the balance between universities and government facilities in terms of research and workforce development and the role of international collaborations in leveraging future investments. Nuclear physics today is a diverse field, encompassing research that spans dimensions from a tiny fraction of the volume of the individual particles (neutrons and protons) in the atomic nucleus to the enormous scales of astrophysical objects in the cosmos. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter explains the research objectives, which include the desire not only to better understand the nature of matter interacting at the nuclear level, but also to describe the state of the universe that existed at the big bang. This report explains how the universe can now be studied in the most advanced colliding-beam accelerators, where strong forces are the dominant interactions, as well as the nature of neutrinos.

Intermediate-Energy Nuclear Physics is devoted to discussing the interaction between hadrons with nuclei, which leads to the emission of particles during an intranuclear cascade and subsequent decay of a highly excited residual nucleus. Experimental data and the methods and results of the calculation of probabilities of various processes initiated by intermediate-energy hadrons in nuclei are set forth and discussed. The potential for obtaining information on the structure and properties of nuclei by comparing experimental data with theoretical results is analyzed. New issues, such as analytic methods for the solution of kinetic equations describing the cascade, nuclear absorption of hadrons from bound states of hadronic atoms, interaction of antinucleons with nuclei, multifragmentation of highly excited residual nuclei, and polarization phenomena, are discussed in detail. The book also demonstrates hadron-nucleus interactions that bridge the gap between low-energy and heavy ions physics. It is an interesting reference for nuclear physicists and other researchers interested in the analysis of problems associated with the evolution of the early (hot) universe, neutron stars and supernovas, after-burning of radioactive waste in nuclear energy installations, and electronuclear energy breeding.